Sterling Brown Arrest Fallout: 3 Officers Are Suspended

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Body camera footage shows Sterling Brown, 23, talking to Milwaukee police officers after a stun gun was used on him in January during an arrest.CreditCreditMilwaukee Police Department, via Associated Press

By Louis Lucero II

May 25, 2018

Eight members of the Milwaukee Police Department have been disciplined in connection with the arrest of the N.B.A. player Sterling Brown, who in January was subdued with a stun gun over a parking violation.

The department announced on Friday that three officers would receive unpaid suspensions. Those officers and five others will receive policy review instruction and remedial training in professional communications, the department said.

The most substantial punishment, a 15-day suspension, went to a police sergeant who has served for more than 11 years. Another sergeant, with 12 years of service, received a 10-day suspension. An officer with two and a half years on the force received a two-day suspension.

Footage of the arrest, outside a Walgreens store in the early hours of Jan. 26, was captured using a body camera worn by one of the officers. The 30-minute video was released to the public on Wednesday, after the Police Department conducted an investigation into the episode that “revealed members acted inappropriately.”

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Chief Alfonso Morales of the Milwaukee Police Department said on Wednesday that he was “sorry this incident escalated to this level.”CreditTannen Maury/EPA, via Shutterstock

Alfonso Morales, the Milwaukee police chief, has expressed regret at how the arrest was carried out. “I am sorry this incident escalated to this level,” he said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The video shows Mr. Brown exiting the drugstore and being confronted by an officer about his car, which was parked in a handicapped zone. The confrontation swiftly escalates, with multiple police vehicles responding to the scene.

At one point, the officers push Mr. Brown to the ground and one officer calls out, “Taser, Taser, Taser,” after which a stun gun is used on Mr. Brown.

During the video, Mr. Brown does not appear to raise his voice or physically resist officers.

In an interview broadcast on Friday on “Good Morning America,” Mr. Brown, a 23-year-old guard on the Milwaukee Bucks, said that his hands were behind his back at the time the stun gun was used. He described becoming mad every time he watched the footage.

“I was defenseless, pretty much,” he said.

On Thursday Mr. Brown announced that he would take legal action against the Milwaukee Police Department. (The department is not pursuing criminal charges against Mr. Brown.) He told “Good Morning America” that he aimed to hold “the officers accountable, hold future officers accountable.”

“This happens from coast to coast, you know, it’s something that’s being shown more now that technology has advanced,” he said. “It’s something that’s been happening for years, and people’s stories have not been told, and people’s stories have not been heard. And I feel like, you know, me doing this, it helps a lot.”